Troll of the Month: Tabloid Informer

The Balkan Troll of the Month is an individual, a group of individuals or a media outlet that spreads hate based on gender, ethnicity, religion, or other diversity categories. The Balkan Troll is selected based on hate speech incidents identified across the Western Balkan region.

On the night of the 26th of March, a lifeless body was found on the plateau in front of Belgrade’s Faculty of Philosophy. According to initial information, the 25-year-old woman jumped from the fifth floor of the building after the ignition of pyrotechnic devices. 

Although the police investigation was still underway, tabloids took this opportunity to begin reporting on the incident without facts or confirmation, making assumptions as to the cause of death. One of the main culprits was tabloid Informer – a Belgrade based pro-government daily. Informer released blurred pictures and videos of the woman’s body, breaking the Journalist’s code of Serbia. They also used her full name while reporting on the incident, thus revealing personal information such as her hometown. Their headlines were sensationalised, and the dignity of the victim was compromised. Furthermore, the editor-in-chief Dragan J. Vučićević spoke about the alleged course of events in a live programme on Informer TV even though at the time, there was no official information available from institutions.

Alongside Informer, other tabloids also began spinning the incident, making false and inappropriate connections between the tragic incident and the student protests ongoing since December 2024, sparked by the station canopy collapse in Novi Sad. Tabloids went on to falsely allege and accuse those who supported the protest and opposed the regime, specifically Danijel Sinani, Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Vladan Đokić, Rector of the University of Belgrade. Tabloids claimed that their hands are bloody, a phrase famously used by those responsible for the canopy collapse in Novi Sad. Rector Đokić specifically has been one of the main targets of the months-long smear campaign in these same outlets.

More broadly, they accused the students’ protests and blockades of universities oftransforming these institutions into ones which enable such incidents to occur. The tabloids influenced by the ruling party in Serbia used this opportunity to attack their political and ideological opponents in an ongoing smear campaign while completely disregarding the harm caused to the family and loved ones of the victim, those related to the victims of Novi Sad and all those impacted by the regime’s actions.

With little to no reliable information and confirmation from the police as to the events of the incident that took place, the media cannot and must not use such opportunities to push their own political agendas. Pointing fingers at people and making baseless assumptions and false allegations is extremely dangerous, harmful and risks spreading misinformation in society. They can be extremely dangerous to those mentioned, putting them at risk. 

The media has a moral and legal obligation and duty to abide by the Journalist Code of Ethics and professionalism while reporting on cases that concern the public interest. They must report based on facts and evidence rather than assumption and misinformation. In cases like these, the dignity of the victim must be protected, and space must be given for the investigation to go underway without interference.